French Ligue 1 &#8211; CaughtOffside

27-year-old signed by Bielsa could be set to leave Leeds United

Liverpool put eye-watering price tag on Mo Salah amid renewed Saudi interest

“Beautiful left foot… ” – Eddie Howe excited by ‘real high potential’ Newcastle star

Mbappe has made 15 appearances in all competitions for PSG this campaign so far, scoring 15 goals and providing one assist in 1,241 minutes of football.

He has helped PSG to top of Ligue 1, sitting on 27 points, one point above second placed Nice. They are also second of their Champions League group on six points, one point off first placed Dortmund who have seven points after four games.

Haaland has made 18 appearances in all competitions for Manchester City so far this campaign, scoring 17 goals and providing four assists in 1,510 minutes.

He has helped Manchester City into first place in the Premier League on 28 points, one point above second placed Liverpool and third placed Arsenal. City are also top of their Champions League group on 12 points, winning four out of four so far.

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Bayern Munich make World-Class star their priority, many January possibilities for Chelsea defender, the latest on Newcastle/Neves and more

Fabrizio Romano — Wed, 22 Nov 2023 18:30:00 +0000

This article was originally published on Fabrizio Romano’s Daily Briefing, a subscription service. If you would like to receive Fabrizio Romano’s exclusive articles via email ahead of publication on caughtoffside.com, please sign-up for the service here: thedailybriefing.io

Leroy Sane’s contract is a priority for Bayern Munich amid interest from England

Bayern Munich have many contract situations that they need to discuss internally and with player’s representatives, with Leroy Sane falling into this category. Sane is out of contract in the summer of 2025 and it is a crucial moment for Bayern as they still need to discuss a new deal with the player.

From what I understand, Bayern’s plan is to make a very important proposal to Sane as the winger has been one of the German club’s best players this season. The new contract offered to the player will obviously add more years to his stint at the club but it will also see his salary increased, which will include bonuses. Bayern are currently preparing this proposal and they will try hard to convince him to stay.

There is interest in Sane from England but it is nothing advanced. This is why it is now a priority for Bayern to offer the player a new contract.

Could Trevoh Chalobah reunite with Thomas Tuchel in January?

I have told you multiple times that Trevoh Chalobah will not stay at Chelsea beyond the January transfer window as he wants to play regular football. The idea of the club and player are in line and they will try to find the best solution for everyone during the upcoming transfer window.

There are rumours about many clubs being interested in the player from England and Germany. I want to clarify that for Bayern Munich, Chalobah is no longer a priority. He was a priority on Deadline Day this summer as he had previously played under Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea but the deal collapsed because of the different closing times of the transfer windows in each country.

There are possibilities in other countries for Chalobah in January, including England, so let’s see what happens.

What does the Premier League’s latest decision mean for Ruben Neves to Newcastle?

Premier League clubs voted against a temporary ban on loan deals between associated clubs for the January transfer window. This means Newcastle United, for instance, could sign players from clubs also owned by their owners Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).

There have been rumours of Newcastle eyeing up a move for Al-Hilal’s Ruben Neves ahead of the January transfer window but I can say that there’s nothing going on with this deal at this stage. I can’t predict anything yet for the upcoming transfer window but there are no talks so far, just interest and appreciation. The situation remains very quiet but let’s see in December/January.

Man United target Jean-Clair Todibo has been scouted by many clubs

There have been rumours about Newcastle and Chelsea being interested in Nice’s Jean-Clair Todibo and I can say that he’s been scouted by many clubs. Man United made contact with the player’s representatives last summer, while Newcastle were tracking him in June then nothing happened. At the moment, there is not something concrete as he is a key player for Nice, therefore, it is not easy at all to imagine a deal in January.

More Stories / Latest News

27-year-old signed by Bielsa could be set to leave Leeds United

Liverpool put eye-watering price tag on Mo Salah amid renewed Saudi interest

“Beautiful left foot… ” – Eddie Howe excited by ‘real high potential’ Newcastle star

In other news…

Gabriel Moscardo – Chelsea tried to sign Gabriel Moscardo in August for their first team, but there was no agreement. Liverpool, Arsenal and three more clubs have been monitoring the player with their scouts but there’s still no advanced negotiations, not even with Chelsea now.

Andrey Santos – Chelsea have not held talks with Nottingham Forest about Santos’ lack of playing time. Of course, Chelsea can’t be happy with the current situation but nothing will be discussed before December when the club will decide on many things, including Santos’ future.

Alejandro Balde – Balde signed a new deal with Barcelona in September so there’s nothing at all regarding a move away. He’s a key player for Barça and his extension showed the player that the club want him to be a key part of their current and future projects.

Danny Ings – Following rumours that Bournemouth’s Dominic Solanke could replace Danny Ings at West Ham, I can say that Solanke is appreciated by the London club. He’s one of the players they like but no decision has been made yet as it is still early. I have no information about the future of Ings yet.

The post Bayern Munich make World-Class star their priority, many January possibilities for Chelsea defender, the latest on Newcastle/Neves and more appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Exclusive: Fabrizio Romano says several clubs scouting defender wanted by Man United

Darren Looney — Wed, 22 Nov 2023 11:41:17 +0000

Man United were in the market for a centre-back this summer and one of their targets was Nice’s Jean-Clair Todibo but there are now several clubs monitoring the defender, reveals Fabrizio Romano.

The Manchester club made contact with the player’s representatives during the summer transfer window as Erik ten Hag wanted to bring in another central defender as Harry Maguire was expected to leave Old Trafford. The England defender ended up staying and Todibo remained at Nice.

There have been rumours about several English clubs wanting Todibo in January, such as Chelsea and Newcastle, but speaking exclusively to CaughtOffside for his Daily Briefing column, Romano explains that it will be hard for any interested party to sign the Nice star during the winter transfer window due to his importance to the French side.

Jean-Clair Todibo in action for Nice

More Stories / Latest News

27-year-old signed by Bielsa could be set to leave Leeds United

Liverpool put eye-watering price tag on Mo Salah amid renewed Saudi interest

“Beautiful left foot… ” – Eddie Howe excited by ‘real high potential’ Newcastle star

Nice are currently second in Ligue 1 and will not want to lose any players midseason as they dream of pushing PSG for the French title.

Speaking about Todibo’s situation, Romano has said: “There have been rumours about Newcastle and Chelsea being interested in Nice’s Jean-Clair Todibo and I can say that he’s been scouted by many clubs.

“Man United made contact with the player’s representatives last summer, while Newcastle were tracking him in June then nothing happened. At the moment, there is not something concrete as he is a key player for Nice, therefore, it is not easy at all to imagine a deal in January.”

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PSG team news vs Monaco

Connor Holden — Wed, 22 Nov 2023 09:34:12 +0000

PSG (1st in Ligue 1) take on Monaco (3rd in Ligue 1) on Friday 24th of November, at the Parc des Princes Stadium, at 20:00 PM (GMT).

The last time the two sides faced, Monaco beat PSG 3-1. Goals coming from Aleksandr Golovin and Wissam Ben Yedder (x2) for Monaco, and a goal from Warren Zaire-Emery for PSG.

PSG won their last Ligue 1 game, beating Reims 3-0. A hattrick from Kylian Mbappe securing the victory and three points for PSG.

Monaco drew their last Ligue 1 game, being held to a 0-0 draw by Le Havre.

How to watch PSG vs Monaco

Date: Friday, November 24th, 2023
Kickoff: 20:00 PM (GMT)
TV Network: TNT Sport
Venue: Parc des Princes

Team News:

PSG will be without Presnel Kimpembe, Nuno Mendes, Sergio Rico, Marco Asensio, Warren Zaire-Emery, Keylor Navas and Danilo Pereira who are all out through injury.

Predicted XI:

PSG: Donnarumma, Hernandez, Skriniar, Marquinhos, Hakimi, Ugarte, Ruiz, Lee, Dembele, Ramos, Mbappe.

Monaco: Kohn, Magassa, Maripan, Singo, Jakobs, Fofana, Zakaria, Diatta, Golovin, Akliouche, Ben Yedder.

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Incredible statistic shows why Kylian Mbappe can be one of the greats

Sean Walker — Tue, 21 Nov 2023 23:25:39 +0000

The PSG striker scored his 300^th career goal on Saturday night reaching the milestone quicker than both Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

Kylian Mbappe is undoubtedly one of the best talents on the planet and has demonstrated this with club and country.

The 24-year-old was the star of France’s 14-0 massacre of Gibraltar on Saturday evening, completing his hat-trick with a tremendous strike from close to the halfway line.

His 17^th career hat trick coincided with his 300^th career goal, at just 24, he accomplished the feat one year quicker than Messi and three years sooner than Ronaldo.

Kylian Mbappe has reached 300 career goals before turning 25 in December

That’s as many as Messi and Neymar when they were 25 and Cristiano Ronaldo at 27 pic.twitter.com/Yh4pU1znrP

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) November 20, 2023

Even Thierry Henry, who Mbappe has been most frequently compared to, didn’t reach the milestone until he was 30.

After overtaking Antoine Griezmann in France’s top scorer’s chart, it is only a matter of time before he passes the Arsenal legend who is only five goals away.

He will then set his sights on Olivier Giroud at the top of the all-time list with just ten more goals.

Jean-Pierre Papin, who is tenth on the list, believes ‘the best is yet to come’ for the PSG man.

“Such precocity, such regularity, is rare, almost unique. He’s someone who, if he is not injured, can manage to score between 45 and 55 goals each year, for years to come.” He told L’Equipe.

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Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to meet one last time in Saudi Arabia

Jason Pettigrove — Tue, 21 Nov 2023 22:02:23 +0000

It’s a match to get the whole of the football world watching, and when Lionel Messi faces Cristiano Ronaldo for what’s expected to be one last time in 2024, that’s almost guaranteed to happen.

The two best players in the world for the last 20 years, and in many people’s opinion two of the best ever, will meet in a ‘last dance’ at the Riyadh Season Cup.

The Last Dance
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???? ???? ????? ???? ?? ???? ????? ?? ????? ??? ???? ??????… ?????

?? ??????? ????? ? Feb 2024

It's the last dance of football greatness! ?
Ronaldo vs Messi clash on the pitch.

Watch Inter Miami FC… pic.twitter.com/3aHtVGtFQI

— TURKI ALALSHIKH (@Turki_alalshikh) November 21, 2023

Announced on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday evening, the match will form part of a tournament which will also include current Saudi Pro League leaders, Al Hilal.

The National note that the Messi v Ronaldo showdown will take place at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh in early February.

There are other narratives that will be at play too.

For example, Al Nassr can also count David Ospina, Aymeric Laporte, Alex Telles, Marcelo Brozovic and Sadio Mane in their ranks, whilst Inter Miami have Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba as part of their squad, and Luis Suarez set to join them in January.

Tickets are sure to be like gold dust and, though the match will clearly be billed as a friendly, one can imagine with the egos involved and the pride at stake, the game will be much more that for its participants and is therefore likely to be a must-watch.

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Chelsea star 99% gone, Lukaku clause, Arsenal midfield targets, and could Man Utd ace be next big Saudi signing?

Fabrizio Romano — Tue, 21 Nov 2023 19:00:00 +0000

Chelsea’s plans for the January transfer window

I expect Chelsea to be active in the January window, but also smart. The best news around Chelsea at the moment is that there is almost no news – finally. After two years of many rumours and stories about players, managers, directors, and so on, it’s important for things to now be a bit more calm and quiet.

This will help Chelsea work in the best way, and that’s what they’re doing behind the scenes, with a striker still their priority. We’ve heard a lot about Victor Osimhen and Ivan Toney, but I’m told that it still looks highly unlikely that Osimhen will leave Napoli in the middle of the season. Nothing has changed in terms of his availability because it looks like a complicated season for Napoli and so they want to keep him at least until the end of the season. In the summer of course it could be different.

For Toney, Brentford will fight to keep the player of course, but I’m told that he wants to try a new experience, and he wants to play for a top, top club. Chelsea are still interested, so let’s see if they will attack the situation, but there are no negotiations yet. Let’s see what happens because for sure they are considering bringing in a new striker in January.

In terms of centre-backs, I expect Chelsea to sell Trevoh Chalobah, it seems 99% likely because he wants to play football. Chelsea also believe that the best plan is to part ways in January. I have no update on clubs pursuing him yet, it’s no longer a concrete negotiation with Bayern after a deal collapsed back in August.

I would then expect Chelsea to try to bring in a new centre-back. They are exploring options on the market, but there is still nothing decided, they are still assessing options, but it’s certainly a position they want to cover in 2024.

Romelu Lukaku’s unofficial release clause for summer 2024

From what I’m told, Romelu Lukaku has something like a release clause, but not a proper release clause. There is a gentleman’s agreement between the player’s agents and Chelsea, because they don’t want a situation like a few months ago in the summer transfer window when they had to negotiate with Juventus, then with Inter, then with Roma – it was a very complicated summer for Chelsea around the Lukaku story, and so there is now a possibility for him to leave for €40m – and that’s not just for Roma, that’s for any club.

From what I’m told, Roma still have no clarity on what will happen next season with some key figures, such as manager Jose Mourinho and director Tiago Pinto – it’s therefore too early for Roma to decide if they can pay that money for Lukaku. We’ll have to see around March/April when things will become more clear.

How Everton could approach January after points deduction

Everton may now have to be conservative with their January transfer activity after their points deduction. They will be prepared to fight for their position and we’ll see how that will materialise in the next weeks, but I expect them to be conservative with their approach.

At the moment there is nothing concrete in terms of negotiations yet – they want to see how to discuss this big issue they have and then work out their strategy and targets for January.

There’s nothing yet in terms of names for Everton, but I would certainly expect a more conservative approach from them in the market after this strong punishment from previous dealings.

More Stories / Latest News

27-year-old signed by Bielsa could be set to leave Leeds United

Liverpool put eye-watering price tag on Mo Salah amid renewed Saudi interest

“Beautiful left foot… ” – Eddie Howe excited by ‘real high potential’ Newcastle star

Thoughts on those Antoine Griezmann to Man Utd links

There have been some surprising stories about Antoine Griezmann being a target for Manchester United, but I think it’s impossible, honestly. I’m not aware of any contacts, but it’s also not just about that, it’s about the player’s desire to stay at Atletico Madrid.

From what I’m told, back in the summer there was an approach from Saudi Arabia, with a crazy proposal in terms of salary to Griezmann, who would’ve become one of the best-paid players there, but he didn’t even want to negotiate. He is in love with Atletico Madrid and he already left them to join Barcelona in a special moment in his career a few years ago, and he regrets that decision because now he is back at the club and he feels very well with the fans, with the city, with his teammates and with the manager.

I don’t see Griezmann leaving Atletico Madrid in January, so I think these stories about Man United look absolutely impossible.

Could Bruno Fernandes be the next big Saudi signing?

There have been reports linking Bruno Fernandes with Saudi Arabia, and I think stories like this are normal when we see what Saudi clubs have done recently and as we get closer to January.

Still, at the moment there is nothing, Bruno Fernandes is only focused on Manchester United, and their position is also very clear – he is a very important player, he is very happy there, and so there is nothing happening now.

For the future, of course, never say never, because Bruno Fernandes would be an attractive player for the Saudi league, but I wouldn’t expect anything to happen for him this January – he’s staying.

Ruben Neves could be an alternative to Douglas Luiz for Arsenal

Ruben Neves continues to be linked with Arsenal, and I think these stories come from the fact that Mikel Arteta has always been a big fan of the player. He has always appreciated him, since he was at Wolves, and his name has come up a few times in recent years whenever Arteta had discussions about targets with Arsenal director Edu.

I think that’s why there are these links, but at the moment there are no negotiations, and in fact the dream target for Arsenal in midfield is Douglas Luiz. It’s a complicated deal, though, because Aston Villa are having a fantastic season and they don’t want to sell an important player like Luiz in January.

I think it would take very important money to make Villa change their minds about Luiz, so he’s Arsenal’s dream target – they see him as a perfect midfielder with a big future, but unless they are able to come in with a very big package of money, it’s going to be very difficult for them to get this deal done.

Neves could therefore perhaps be a backup option in case Arsenal can’t sign Luiz, but for sure it’s going to be an interesting January for Arsenal because of the injury to Thomas Partey.

Meanwhile, Jorginho’s agent has also spoken about the player’s future, suggesting contract talks are at a standstill. However, my understanding is that there were never talks over a new deal – he joined eight months ago, so it was never a serious topic. He’s part of the rotations at Arsenal and no changes are expected – also with Partey injured Arsenal and Arteta need him as part of their squad.

What next for Antonio Nusa amid Arsenal links?

Antonio Nusa has been linked with Arsenal and others, and when I asked my sources for latest updates on his situation a few days ago, I was told that there is interest from more than ten clubs for this exciting young talent.

Some clubs in England, France and Germany love this player, but nothing will happen now, it doesn’t look likely for him to move in the January transfer window. Only a crazy offer could change the situation, but at the moment it’s very quiet because Nusa is not in a rush.

At the moment, it’s just about clubs scouting the boy, but he will take his time over deciding his future, and we could see something more concrete in the summer, but not now.

I do know that his agent is very well connected with top clubs around Europe, so I’m sure they will sit down together and try to work out what would be the right next step for the player.

Evan Ferguson unlikely to leave Brighton just yet

Evan Ferguson is another top young talent who inevitably attracts links with big clubs, but from what I’m told he extended his contract at Brighton because he’s very happy there, so we have to be respectful to Brighton.

Ferguson believes that Brighton is the perfect place for him to develop, so I’m not even sure we’ll see him move in summer 2024, maybe later in the future. He’s very happy at Brighton.

Sometimes in the transfer window crazy things can happen – Moises Caicedo, for example, left Brighton for huge money, so if they receive crazy proposals then maybe the situation could change, but for the moment they are very happy with him and they believe they can maybe sell him in two years for huge money, so I’d say the situation is more open for the future, rather than for the next year or so.

In other news…

Savio – Part of City Group at Girona, a potential future move to Man City was part of the original plan for Savio when they signed him. It’s a normal plan but it’s not something guaranteed or decided yet, they want him to focus on Girona as he’s having a great season. Despite rumours, Barcelona are not in concrete talks to sign him.

Estevao – PSG wanted to sign Estevao as well when they were in the race for Endrick, as he’s a top talent. They are still scouting him, but I’m not aware of any new bid or negotiation. There are many scouts from top clubs in South America monitoring him on a regular basis.

Robin Le Normand – Despite some reports, I’m not aware of any new centre-back targets for Manchester United other than the names I’ve already mentioned, like Jean-Clair Todibo and Goncalo Inacio. Also now new people will join the Man United board and they will decide on targets with the manager Erik ten Hag, so we will see many links, but there’s nothing concrete so far for Le Normand and United.

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Agent’s column: Arteta was wrong, Man City must be punished IF they’re guilty, VAR must be improved and more

Jon Smith — Tue, 21 Nov 2023 14:34:02 +0000

In his fortnightly exclusive column for CaughtOffside, Jon Smith, one of football’s first-ever agents and a man who was an integral figure in the forming of the Premier League, discusses Everton’s 10-point deduction, why VAR has to stay, why Mikel Arteta was wrong – and more!

—

£1.2m for a 15-year-old is vulgar but if all teams can choose from the same selection pool, what’s the problem?

Finley Gorman’s purchase by Man City has seen some real pushback given that he’s only 15 and £1.2m in transfer fees is a little excessive, but do I think there should be a cap on transfer fees?

I am one of the people that helped to start the Premier League. It’s all about the competition, and it has been enormously successful because it’s the best footballing competition in the world.

I mean, people around the world didn’t know what Reading was, they thought it was a book you read. They never knew where Wigan was until it was in the Premier League. There were even people arriving on trips from Asia to see Wigan.

So, rather than stymie transfer fees as such and tell clubs what they can and cannot spend their money on, I am in favour of there being an overall cap on money spent.

Not necessarily on money spent aligning to your turnover, although, obviously that has to have some bearing on it because Manchester United’s overheads are bigger than Luton’s, but but you can’t have Manchester City, United, Liverpool or whoever being able to outbid the Burnley’s of this world just because they can.

Otherwise you end up like La Liga when there’s probably three, maybe four teams at the very top and 16 others that can only really compete at a certain level at any given time.

I think there has to be a mechanism whereby the great and the good are pretty equal in terms of their ability to sign players.

However, after signing young players, then their wellbeing has to be supported.

Some of the biggest, saddest moments in my 40 years in football have come when that lovely young kid who’s an Arsenal fan actually gets signed by Arsenal and he’s a hero at school because he’s an Arsenal lad… but he gets to 15 and he’s just not what they want or he’s not good enough…

There’s no real mental support for kids who suddenly find that their life has been devastated. It’s scary. You’re grappling with coming to terms with exams, your own sexuality, and suddenly you’re a failure at 15.

You’re not of course, because you did really brilliantly by being where you are and there’s absolutely life outside of Arsenal Football Club, but that’s where I’m coming from.

There should be a much more considered process and guardianship of young footballers coming through the system where they’re helped into it, helped through it and helped out a bit if they move elsewhere on their journey.

Football could learn a lot from the way rugby conducts itself

I am dismayed by referees being pilloried, physically in some cases and certainly mentally. I just think it sets a really, really, really bad example.

I even see it when watching kids play football on a Saturday. It’s not just the kids arguing with the referee, it’s the parents too, and in one case I saw a referee being pushed a few weeks ago. I thought that was beyond belief – and he wasn’t sent off. The parents are encouraging it, shouting abusive language at the referee.

I’m a big fan of Mikel Arteta, but against Newcastle, he was wrong. Very wrong. If you have a referee, he’s in charge and he may make mistakes. We all do. And that’s just the way that it is.

Just like in rugby, I think the referees should have a microphone attached and I think the crowd should be able to listen to it in real time. One abusive word or phrase – which doesn’t need repeating here – and they’re off, and the crowd will know exactly why.

You cannot let the violent society we live in translate onto a football pitch. I’ve never known my country to be so violent in all my 70 years. It’s a ridiculous world we live in now and it’s not going to get any better any time soon.

Our football leagues need to lead from the front. It’s the most watched, entertaining and enjoyed physical activity on the planet other than sex, so time to lead by emotional example here.

I do think an orange card or sin-binning would be a great idea too because the game has to keep evolving and it would hopefully calm things down a bit more. I believe that there should be some penalty, so maybe 15 minutes, 20 minutes, whatever it might be – especially if it’s the last 20 minutes.

I think that’s something that I would absolutely encourage the Premier League to look at.

I like VAR, it’s here to stay, but vast improvements must be made

I like VAR but I know that a lot of people don’t.

In the past I’ve been working with nation states at World Cup tournaments when the ball has definitely crossed the line. I’ve seen it cross the line but the referee was 30 yards behind play and didn’t see it, nor did the assistant referee.

They’ve gone out of the competition at that stage and probably lost millions of potential income for their Federation because of a poor decision.

So I love what they did in the 2022 World Cup with the semi-automated offside technology which is basically AI and it tracks the limbs. By the way, I don’t think a stud on the striker’s right boot should determine if he’s offside or not and I think there has to be a redefining of handball. It’s handball, not ball to hand.

The semi-automated offside technology and the technology that runs alongside that I think is fantastic and is the way forward. The Premier League doesn’t employ that by the way.

There should be a replay of the incident on the big stadium screen two or three times and somebody commentating on it so there’s some sort of crowd engagement.

That wonderful Tottenham game… there were times it took four or five minutes for a decision. you could’ve gone to get a hot dog, come back and find the situation still wasn’t resolved.

I don’t think I’m qualified as a referee to say how they should or shouldn’t use the technology, but all I know is that the technology is there, and the advanced technology that FIFA used is there, and it works – now.

There were a few space disasters before man landed on the moon. I think we’ve got to be cognisant that it may take a year or two, but I think they’ll get it right.

It’s important they do and I absolutely believe the crowd should be involved in the engagement of the process.

Multi-club ownership isn’t wrong but has to be policed properly

In principle, I agree that there should be some sort of management of multi-club ownership player swaps, because it gives rise to an advantage to those clubs against competing clubs who don’t have that accessibility to players and deals that perhaps are not as financially helpful.

If you’re lending within your own group, you’re not really going to charge each other that much and the money gets reinvested into the group again.

Of course, there’s ways around it. Let’s just say there are major funds, most of whom I know, who are seeking to own multiple football clubs, and some of the investors in those groups are sovereign wealth funds.

So in other words, potentially, you have a country as an owner of a football club, dealing with a fund – of which that country’s sovereign wealth fund, which is different from the state ownership vehicle – actually means that is overly helpful to the initial club.

I think clear, clearly defined capital ownership shows that there are no hidden ownerships in that mix, and if even if there are, by the way, that’s okay. Don’t forget Watford have been doing this for years with Udinese. Nobody’s complained, and it’s worked quite well for them.

Providing it’s understood that it’s not a whole team, just one or two players every season or something like that, it’s absolutely financially advantageous for the clubs in that equation, beyond just the ability to move a player about.

Everton should absolutely be punished… as should every other club if they’ve broken the rules

Let’s talk Everton for a moment. The rules are there for a reason and they should be obeyed.

There’s been some unfortunate circumstances around Everton but it’s not the most heinous crime of the lot by comparison to what’s alleged at Man City.

I think the 10 point deduction is a salutary moment because it will make make clubs sit up and take notice and think about what they might have done in the past.

For example, we’ve had Paris Saint-Germain allegedly skirting merrily around certain regulations and financial fair play, and apparently having no sanctions at all.

With Manchester City I’d like to put on record that I love the advancement that City have put into the football club ownership in their group .

However, if they have breached the regulations 114 or 115 times, then they should be punished, and I’m a little concerned that we’ve heard nothing about that. But if they’re innocent, they’re innocent. They shouldn’t be pilloried because they’re wealthy either.

If the regulators have got any teeth in the future, they have to be seen to bite now, because now is the moment where everyone’s eyes are looking at it.

I am concerned that the governing bodies are becoming relatively benevolent for obvious reasons of requiring the financial support from some of the sizeable sovereign funds that are around, less so to the big hedge fund owners – but even they get a doff of the cap occasionally.

So, I am concerned that if Qatar, Saudi Arabia or whomever want to change the rules, they’ve got more access to people at the top of the game than others.

It needs to be literally a level playing field for everyone to have access to the lawmakers or else the supporters will start to drift away – and at that point, you lose the heartbeat of the game.

Lastly, the 10-point deduction affects Everton’s supporters as much as it affects the ownership.

So I think if if the financial value of a club has been enhanced by you breaching the regulations, in other words, you financially benefited, then a sizeable percentage of the punishment should be financial. Points is part of it yes, because it hurts, but the penalties should also be financial.

The post Agent’s column: Arteta was wrong, Man City must be punished IF they’re guilty, VAR must be improved and more appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Newcastle told they are free to sign 6ft 3in beast in £40m deal

Mark Brus — Tue, 21 Nov 2023 11:09:31 +0000

Newcastle United have reportedly been told that they can complete a transfer deal for Nice defender Jean-Clair Todibo for a fee of just £40million.

The France international has been a solid performer in his time in Ligue 1 and there have been various rumours linking him as a target for the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea.

Still, Newcastle are also in the race and the Mirror report that Todibo is available for just £40m, which should be perfectly affordable for them.

NUFC could probably do with strengthening their depth at the back in the near future, and Todibo looks like he’d fit the bill perfectly.

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